Baseball America Prospect Report – August 16, 2018

J.B. Bukauskas, RHP, Astros. Bukauskas’ arrival at high Class A Buies Creek was significantly delayed this year by a car accident and the resulting stay on the DL. But since arriving in Buies Creek at the start of the month, Bukauskas has been in complete control. Wednesday’s start was his best start yet. Bukauskas’ 93-95 mph fastball and plus slider were both too much for an exceptionally deep Winston-Salem lineup. Bukauskas faced only one batter more than the minimum over seven innings. He allowed one hit (erased by a double play) and walked one while striking out five. Bukauskas now has a 1.00 ERA in three Buies Creek starts.

Bryse Wilson, RHP, Braves. Wilson’s 2018 season began by dominating the Florida State League with an 0.34 ERA in five starts with high Class A Florida. Now he’s trying to wrap it up by dominating the Triple-A International League. Wilson blew away Louisville last night with one of the best starts we’ll see this season---he broke Charlie Morton’s team record with 13 strikeouts in eight one-hit innings. Largely pitching off of his 93-97 mph fastball, Wilson was ahead of the Louisville Bats hitters all night. Wilson almost had an immaculate inning in the first using just his fastball. He struck out the first two batters and got to 0-2 on the third batter before Gabriel Guerrero grounded out weakly to end the inning. He struck out the side in the second inning, relying on his slider for the first time all night to finish off his fifth strikeout. A lone Blake Trahan single (erased on a double play) kept him from carrying a perfect game through his outing. The 20-year-old now has 24 strikeouts and two walks in 20 innings of work in Triple-A.

Adonis Medina, RHP, Phillies. Medina struck out 12 in seven innings, allowing four hits and one run. It was the third time this season Medina has reached double digits in strikeouts.

Joe Dunand, SS, Marlins. Dunand had found Double-A to be massively more difficult than Class A, but he showed the first signs of pulling out of a two-month slump on Wednesday. Dunand went 4-for-5 with a double and his fifth and sixth Double-A home runs. He now hitting .182/.254/.339 for Jacksonville, which is the highest his batting average has been since his June 22, the first day he arrived in Jacksonville.

Leody Taveras, OF, Rangers. It’s been a rough season for Taveras. The defense is still excellent in center field, but his bat has just been much less explosive this season. Taveras went 3-for-5 with a triple and his fifth home run yesterday.

Nick Pratto, 1B, Royals. Speaking of rough seasons, Pratto has not produced at the levels expected from a first-round first baseman. But Pratto is hitting .299/.369/.448 in the second half, helped by last night’s 3-for-4 day with a double (his 27th) and his 10th home run. Overall Pratto is now hitting .263/.363/.401.

Alex Kirilloff, DH, Twins. Kirilloff was at it again, going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles. He’s now hitting .378/.397/.566 for high Class A Fort Myers.